Rep. Jared Huffman addressed criticism over his vote supporting military aid to Israel, saying internal Democratic conflicts over the issue may have undermined the party in recent elections.
In an interview with KEETV’s Headline Humboldt, Huffman pushed back against activists calling for a complete funding cutoff.
"They have been coming at me hard because they think I should absolutely go all out and block all funding to Israel, and they're not satisfied that I've been pushing my disagreements with Netanyahu and with Israeli policy in ways that are different than what they want. And they think fighting with me about it and suing me about it and doing all these things is is productive. It makes them feel better because we're all appalled by the tragedy that has unfolded in Gaza. I would suggest that's been pretty highly misplaced energy and activism because, you know, while we fought with each other about that, and while the Democratic Party, you know, was undermined pretty significantly in the last election by that internal fight by people saying, oh, to hell with, you know, the Harris Biden folks, they, they didn't do enough for us. We're gonna, you know, sit on the couch and sit this one out and not support them. Well, congratulations. You know, you just got a Trump administration that just called on 2 million Palestinians to be forcibly removed from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. And basically green lighting Israeli annexation of the West Bank and everything else. So holy cow, is it important that we have a little intelligence and prioritization in the way we engage. Misplaced passion can really distract and sideline and even do damage. I hope, you know, we, we don't have time for that in this fight to save our democracy."
In January, more than 500 taxpayers sued Huffman and Rep. Mike Thompson over their votes supporting the
The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
The bill totals $26.38 billion to support Israel in its effort to defend itself against Iran and its proxies, and to reimburse U.S. military operations in response to recent attacks.
Further listening:
John Sakowicz has been covering the lawsuit in-depth on his radio show Heroes and Patriots, which is available on YouTube.
Further reading:
You can read commentary on the lawsuit in Truthout and Common Dreams. You can read the point of view of a negotiator of the defense MOU between the U.S. and Israel on Defense One published roughly the same time the lawsuit was filed. And you can read an overview of U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel published by the Congressional Research Service in 2022.